Two days after a crash at Marysville Raceway Park killed two people, investigators say they are looking not just at the possibility of a faulty steering wheel, but have also discussed the design of the track.

Yuba County Undersheriff Jerry Read told KCRA 3 that even though investigators’ main focus is not the track, they have discussed its design as they try to piece together all of the factors that led to the wreck on Saturday night.

The oval track has an exit to the pit area right at the end of the straightaway, so if a driver’s car malfunctions, he could wind up exiting the track when he’s at his highest rate of speed.

KCRA 3’s calls to the raceway were not returned Monday.

On Sunday, the father of 14-year-old Marcus Johnson, of Santa Rosa -- the teen died when he was struck Saturday by his own cousin’s out-of-control race car -- said he was stunned at the car’s movements off the track.

“The car went straight out the pit gate," Rob Johnson said. “At about 90 miles an hour, and just flew in the air."

At All American Speedway in Roseville, which also has an oval track, general manager Ken Brooks said the speedway used to have a track more like the one in Marysville, but managers rebuilt parts of it for safety reasons.

"We had some race cars that, you know, had gone off, not at high rates of speed, but faster than what we considered safe for us," Brooks said.

The track in Roseville was redesigned to include a lane that drivers can use to merge on and off the main raceway, as well as new exit ramps for drivers making their way to the pit area, Brooks said.

A visit to that track shows those things, as well as the fact that before drivers can exit, they must make a turn off the straightaway, which typically slows them down, Brooks said.

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